The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday announced the arrest of a man from Bengaluru who has been accused of committing bank loan frauds, identity theft and misuse, and income tax refund scams.
According to the ED, preliminary investigation suggested that Dilip B R had generated more than Rs 10 crore of proceeds of crime and laundered them into gold, jewellery, cash, and investments in cryptocurrencies.
The ED said it arrested Dilip on November 18 and produced him before a court, which granted it seven days of his custody. He allegedly used different names, such as Dilip B R, Dilip Rajegowda, and Dilip Balaganchi Rajegowda, and obtained three PANs. According to the ED, he carried out various financial transactions using these PANs and defrauded several banks by obtaining vehicle loans under false pretences.
The accused allegedly committed numerous instances of identity theft by misappropriating the personal identification documents (PAN and Aadhaar) of multiple people. By illegally assuming the identity of others, Dilip opened multiple bank accounts in the names of various other individuals, said the ED.
One of the key fraudulent tactics used by Dilip, according to the ED, involved the manipulation of income tax returns to secure access to non-genuine refunds. He allegedly exploited vulnerabilities in the Kaveri and Jamabandi portals of Karnataka and Haryana state governments to gather data on non-resident taxpayers who had sold property in India with significant tax deducted at source (TDS).
Using Aadhaar and PAN data from property records, he forged documents to open bank accounts in the names of his targets, specifically choosing banks with lax KYC requirements, the ED said.
Thereafter, he allegedly accessed the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department through these accounts, revised the income tax returns to reduce tax liabilities, and increased refund amounts. Finally, he used fraudulent accounts to transfer the refunds to bank accounts under his control, the ED said.
